( SNUG 01 Item 24 ) -------------------------------------------- [ 3/28/01 ]
Subject: Synopsys On-Line Support & the Synopsys Hotline
THE MAN IN THE MACHINE: Most people don't know that when Synopsys first
did on-line support, they initially called it SOL -- which was supposed
to stand for "Synopsys On-Line". It took less than a day before someone
told them that SOL also is an old military acronym for "Shit Out of Luck".
Very quickly, they changed to "SolvIt" and then years later to "SolvNET".
Trivia aside, they've added some new Internet ideas to Synopsys support:
"Synopsys support has some new ideas as well. For designers who don't
have access to a dedicated AE, they have a setup in San Jose where
the designer can bring (via CD or ftp) his design files and work on
the problem with Synopsys AE's on-hand to help.
They also are working on using something called "VNC" to allow them
(with the customer's permission, of course) to do interactive debugging
across the net (like HP's SharedX or MS NetMeeting).
This VNC tool is apparently free-ware, & I heard good things about it.
According to their web site, you basically set your display variable to
a virtual display, and you can then grab the display from anywhere."
- Paul Zimmer of Cisco Systems
And here's what the SNUG'01 (San Jose) and EuroSNUG'01 attendees thought:
"1. In an average week, how many hours do you spend using Internet
for activities directly related to your job?"
SNUG SJ Europe
less than 5 hours: 32% 31%
6-10 hours: 49% 48%
10-20 hours: 10% 15%
more than 20 hours: 9% 6%
"2. In an average month, how often do you use SolvNet?"
SNUG SJ Europe
More than once a week: 21% 7%
Once a week: 17% 17%
2-3 times a month: 17% 27%
Once a month: 11% 15%
Irregularly: 34% 34%
"3. What is the most important reason that you visit SolvNet?"
SNUG SJ Europe
Immediate access to
specific problem: 87% 81%
Product research: 9% 11%
Delayed/inadequate response
from Synopsys Support: 4% 4%
Other: 0% 3%
"4. How timely and accurate is the information in SolvNet?"
SNUG SJ Europe
Mostly: 74% 86%
Consistently: 24% 13%
Dated/Inaccurate: 2% 1%
"5. Over the past year, how good a job has SolvNet done at
meeting your online support and information needs?"
SNUG SJ Europe
Adequate: 65% 84%
Excellent: 20% 7%
Haven't used in past year: 11% 8%
Unacceptable: 4% 1%
"6. Which other EDA Vendor Web sites do you use at least once a month?"
SNUG SJ Europe
Don't use others: 47% 23%
Cadence: 21% 29%
Mentor: 15% 28%
Avant!: 8% 11%
Other: 8% 9%
"7. Compared to other EDA sites you visit, how well does SolvNet meet
your information needs and support expectations?"
SNUG SJ Europe
About the same: 20% 18%
A little better: 29% 41%
Much better: 47% 38%
Worse: 4% 3%
Much worse: 0% 0%
As for the Synopsys Hotline itself, no statistics were taken at SNUG'01.
But in ESNUG 366 #1 (the ESNUG post right before the SNUG gathering) at
least one customer voiced some bad experiences. Whether this is a
Lone Gunman or part of an overall user experience depends on what other
users say in response...
"I'd have to say that in nearly every case, my call or e-mail to
Synopsys support personnel has resulted in one of the following
ways:
o "No sir, you are wrong. I won't explain why, because you'd
probably catch a flaw in my logic. Can I please close this
issue?"
o "I need you to spend the next 8 hours of your life putting
together a very large and cumbersome testcase for me, which
probably won't give me any more insight than I already have.
Can I please close this issue?"
o "I'll have to get back to you on that one, I'll call you back in
30 minutes"... (one month later)... "I was just checking to see
if that problem you had was resolved. Can I please close the
issue?"
o "Yes, I think you've found something there. I've submitted a STAR
that will have you up and running again whenever we get around to
fixing that bug. Can I please close the issue?"
o "Yes, that may be an obvious bug, but that's just the way it is,
and nothing can change it. I'll close the issue for you now."
I may sound overly sarcastic here, but all of the situations I
described above have happened to me at one point or another."
- [ Rage Against The Machine ] ( from ESNUG 366 #1 )
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